The Middle Infractor
by Sour Schuyler
Summary: Yugi loves Tea, and wants to make her happy. He knows that Tea doesn't want Yami to leave. So Yugi makes sure that he doesn't... by giving him no time to search for himself. But what will happen to Yugi? Especially when he has to resort to injury.
1. Encryption

_The Beginning of Part 1  
  
Brighter than Most  
  
"If a man hasn't discovered something he would die for, he isn't fit to live." -Martin Luther King, Jr._  
  
_Chapter 1: Encryption_

* * *

Three thousand years ago, Yami had stood as the noble and just Pharaoh of Egypt. Now, he just shared a body with plain old me.  
  
Me. Yugi Motou. A really short (I'm 5'0" exactly) tenth grader who loves card games. A deplorable example of the archetype, "The Fall," right? Wrong. Apparently, Yami liked card games, too. And that was something new for me to experience. Having a friend, I mean. One that was always (and boy, do I mean always) there for me.  
  
My first friend had been Tea Gardner. She was pretty, busty, and had incredible spunk. She also luckily didn't like bullies picking on people smaller and weaker than them (this included me). And thus, she became kind of my protectress. I made a lot more kick-butt friends later.  
...But I still thought she was pretty. And I still do, four years after we met.  
  
Except she's dating somebody that looks nearly exactly like me, and she still acts as if it is possible for us to be normal, everyday friends. Freaked in the mind, that's what she is. But other than that, I love her and I would do anything for her... Including making her happy, even if that meant she wasn't with me but with somebody else. So, I set her up with Yami a lot, put on a big, happy smile, and chirped a "No, of course not!" whenever anybody asked if their relationship bothered me. Why should it? I live for her happiness... And would die for her love. 


	2. Silly

_Part 1  
  
Brighter than Most  
  
"If a man hasn't discovered something he would die for, he isn't fit to live." -Martin Luther King, Jr.  
  
Special thanks to Akio, It's Kat-chan meow and Aeris hiss, Naltes (aka:natbug), Living on Dreams, and especially to Rachel!! Much love! (In the great words of Beau Vidrine... lol.)  
  
Chapter 2: Silly_

* * *

"Do you think that Bakura likes me?" Miho Nosaka questioned me as we slowly walked home from school together on that fateful afternoon. The day that my genius struck. I sighed hopelessly. I would never understand girls. To me it was obvious that Bakura was about as interested in Nosaka as he was having a ton of bricks having dropped on her head. Although, taking into account Bakura's tentative tendancies to slit himself on random occasion, that was probably not a just comparison.  
  
"I dunno, Miho," I told my classmate in my whiniest voice, hoping that she would get the hint that I was annoyed so she would leave me alone. I didn't know why she was walking home with me anyway. We didn't have any shared classes except for the last one, and in the past year she had really grown apart from the gang. But then suddenly she had decided that I, as a "fellow Millennium item holder", could understand Bakura better than anyone else. Boy, was she wrong. I barely even knew the guy. Besides, he kind of scared me. You never knew when he was going to go all psycho on you.  
  
/But I can protect you, Yugi. And with the two of us working together, we can win./ My eyes widened as I realized that Yami was talking to me. He didn't usually do this when I was walking, mostly because when he did that before I scared the old ladies who stood outside wiping their porches with their decrepit brooms that couldn't counter the thinnest layer of dust because I was talking to myself, and ended up smashing into a traffic pole with a gaggle of giggling girls around. And then I would almost get run over. It happened at least three times. A lot of them thought it was "cute".  
  
After that I realized that what Yami had said had sounded very, very cheesy.  
  
"Jees, Yami, do you always have to sound so heroic?" I wondered aloud. Yami chuckled a little, and I laughed once and then turned to see Miho staring at me.  
  
"...Yami? Is that your weird, new, nickname for me?" She asked. I sweat dropped, knowing I was caught.  
  
"Uhhhh..."  
  
"Hey Yugi!" I turned to face forward again and inwardly melted. It was Tea! Yay. Yami, also, was immediately interested. I blocked our mind link without him realizing.  
  
"Hey Tea. What's up?" I asked nonchalantly, ceasing to walk. Miho stopped too, at first looking confused (the ditz), but then finally remembering her former best friend, Tea Gardner.  
  
"Tea!" The blue-haired bimbo glomped the girl in front of me. Secretly I wished that Tea and I were both six years old, so that we could glomp each other and it wouldn't be wrong or suspicious. But, we're not, so I can't glomp... I mean, I may not glomp Tea. No, no, no, I may not. I have another good reason, too. Tea's dating Yami, and I wouldn't want to cause any strife between the two of them. After all, she's happy in that relationship, so there is absolutely no reason for me to interfere.  
  
Tea looked kind of freaked, but tentatively returned the hug to her past galfriend that she used to dabble in life with.  
  
"Uhh... hi."  
  
"I haven't talked to you in forever!" Miho exclaimed. Bright eyes now looked even brighter with excitement. "Want to go shopping this weekend?"  
  
Did I mention Miho's fall in popularity after she lost to Kaoruko in the Popular Contest? I didn't? Well, now I did. And somehow, without realizing it, we even ostricized her from our clique as well. She never gained any more friends except for the occasional new kid who took her on as a pity friend, and then dumped her because Kaoruko's lackey's had whispered "poser" in their ear one too many times for them to make their own decision about Miho's personality and outlook on life. Me? I didn't remember, and I really didn't care to find out. Unless, of course, Tea did.  
  
"Oh, definately." Tea reached up to wipe away a sweat drop clinging to her head. "But, actually, I was just going to ask Ya - I mean Yugi if he wanted to go to IHOP tomorrow morning." She looked meaningfully at me. I blinked at her. Then Yami took over, an automatic response to the subliminal (glandular really) stimulus that was "Tea".  
  
"Sure, Tea, but what is 'IHOP'?" he wondered in his deep voice. Miho answered in place of Tea, in a voice that was much too high, causing their voices to become the perfect antonym of congruency. Eyuck.  
  
"It's the International House of Pancakes, Yugi!" Miho looked at me with a wavering smile. She knew something was up with me. I mean, come on, my voice suddenly got a lot deeper. It wasn't exactly inconspicuous.  
  
Tea adjusted her purse strap on her shoulder. "...So, you wanna go?" She was obviously annoyed at Miho giggling next to her like some giddy schoolgirl-- wait a second --heck, Miho was a giddy schoolgirl! I just felt sorry for her just then. Obviously she had forgotten what civilization was like. But then, she screeched in my/Yami's ear, and my sympathy evanesced quicker than you could say, "Neo, you are THE ONE." (Which is probably easy because you have to say it slowly, and with dramatic emphasis. But still, she's pretty annoying. And I know it isn't like me to whine, but, sheez, I mean my hearing's decreased in quality just from the walk home... I want some earmuffs.)  
  
Tea fiddled with her purse strap, a blush alighting on her face. "So uh... will you go?" the love of my life reiterated, looking up, shrugging, and gazing bashfully into eyes that were mine - without loving the me inside.  
  
"Sure, Tea," Yami gave his answer immediately. And I felt jealousy flaring up within me, which I did very well to supress. My jealousy was just silly. After all, what was there to be jealous about? The next part was always the best.  
  
"Alright then, I'll see you there at nine! Bye, Yugi!" The 5'5", 103.4 lbs ran off, happy inside because of someone that wasn't me. But, I did get to see her smile. And that is something that I'd die for in an instant. 


	3. Joey's Warning

Part 1 V. II

Brighter than Most

"If a man hasn't discovered something he would die for, he isn't fit to live." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Chapter 3: Joey's Warnings

I was moping around the house last night, when Yami had already retired to his soul room to "search for himself". I just can't help wondering -- if he's told me that he's searched again and again and again, why doesn't he give up? Then again, I suppose that that just wouldn't be Yami. Yami never gives up. And neither should I.

The phone rang and I picked it up, inwardly hoping that it was Tea and I could tell her that Yami was busy, and we could chat on the phone like we used to do when we were in the seventh grade and I spent winter vacation with my dad in Florida. That was cool. My dad even nicknamed her, "Yugi's girlfriend". I blushed and denied it every time, but I was pleased that he surmised that.

"Hello?" I asked listlessly, trying to sound interested.

"Yugi?" My eyes widened.

"Joey?!?"

Joey had been on vacation in Sapporo for the past two weeks, the lucky stiff. Him and his sister had gotten to see all the sites. I was stuck reading about them in mangas like Marmalade Boy and Rebound. And Marmalade Boy is SHOUJO! Ugh.

I heard him laugh from the other end of the line. "Yeah Yug' it's me. What's the matter, Yugi, didja forget I dat' I was coming back tomorrow??"

I hadn't forgotten. There was a stack of homework a mile high nestled in-between the couch pressed against the wall and the table with a fake potted plant on it. I had a sneaky premonition that it was just a waste of paper and that Joey didn't intend to do any of it, so I had actually filled in some of my answers for him. After all, what are best friends for? Besides the loyalty and the fun, happy times and the idle conversations about nothing at all?

"No way! What time are you getting back?" I twirled the cord around my finger like a girl. Hey, for years my only friend was one, okay? Now she was just the girlfriend of someone else residing inside of me. Boy, does that sound weird. It's almost inforgivable.

"Tomorrow around eight. This plane we're on isn't going straight to Domino, rather Tokyo. So, since Serenity has airsickness--" There was the sound of a girl retching behind him. I winced. "--we're going to be spendin' the night at a hotel, and drivin' home tomorrow."

"You're on the plane right now?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"And calling me?"

"Yeah."

"Cool!"

"Definitely. I've never used one of these plane phones before."

"Neither have I."

"I was a little concerned about typing in the number correctly though, because--" An aggravated man's voice was heard.

"Hey, sonny, shut up! My ladyfriend here is trying to sleep!!"

"Just because you're being chivalrous doesn't mean she'll date you," Joey was insisting. I chuckled. Same old Joe. Joey turned back to the phone, I presume, because he kept talking.

"So, I was thinkin', why don't we go to the arcade as soon as I get home? Like, around ten or so." I sighed.

"Sounds great, Joe, but Yami and Tea have a date at IHOP tomorrow." I could sense Joey's bewilderment through the phone. He wasn't a big fan of Tea and Yami.

"Yug'!" he started. The man yelled at him again. He lowered his voice. "Yug', doesn't that bother ya?" he whispered.

I sighed again. "Whatever it takes to make her happy, Joe."

"Yeah, but, in this case, Yami's like an imposter inside of your body taking away your girlfriend! And when did you and Yami get together and stipulate that that was okay?"

Blink, blink. "Joe, how much time did it take for you to think of that?"

"Well, I am on a plane with no magazines and my deck's in my suitcase, so, about... one hour and fifteen minutes."

I sweat dropped. "Congratulations, Joe. You read your vocabulary booklet."

"Yeah, yeah, thanks, I'm so proud. But, Yugi, why don't you--"

Somebody tried to flash in. "Hold on Joe, someone's on the other line. Boy, I'm so popular today!" Joey probably grinned as I pressed the flash button. "Hello?"

"Yugi?" It was Miho. I was dumbstruck with disbelief. Why on Earth was she calling?? Errrr, my poor mind couldn't take it! I had just been able to get rid of the grinding feeling that was grating my cerebrum.

"Hello?" Miho asked again. Oh, right, I'm supposed to say hi back, aren't I?

"Hi, Miho," I said out of breath. "What is it?"

"Um... I was wondering if you and Tea were dating?"

Jees, you walk a girl home once because she looks lonely, and then she's calling you to ask if you have a girlfriend.

"No," I said stoically. "We're just good friends, that's all."

"Oh." I heard Miho shift uncomfortably on the other side of the phone. "Well... Yugi?"

"Yeah?" She sounded like she was about to cry. I hated crying, mostly because when I started, I couldn't stop. No, literally, I had a chronic condition that had somethign to do with my tear ducts. It actually made me pretty dehydrated, too, and I've had to go to the hospital because of it.

"I was... I was wondering..." I could tell Miho was crying now.

"Miho, if this is about Bakura, I already told you--"

"It's not," she assured me. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out to the movies next Saturday. X-Men 2 is playing."

There was no denying that I was inwardly startled. Miho wanted to go on a date with me? But she loved Bakura. She must be very desperate.

...How, I'm disparaging myself...

I thought of Tea... And decided that she would be happy to see me dating someone else. Wouldn't it? Always got to think of Tea.

"Um... Can I have until tomorrow to decide?" I asked. Miho sniffled and nodded. I know this because it took about a half a minute before she said, "Oh, yes. Sure."

"Ok then. I'll... see you tomorrow, ok?"

"'Kay. Bye, Yugi."

"Bye."

She hung up. I had to admit, though that girl really annoyed me, she had sounded very, very, sad, and that made me worried. What was wrong with her? She hadn't seemed that sad when we were walking home... Quickly I pressed the button to talk to Joey again. He curtly informed me that he had to go, and then randomly brought up that he thought that Yami and Tea shouldn't be dating. Before I could argue, he countered with, "Yug', if Tea keeps dating Yami, she'll just be that much sadder when he goes away for good, ya know? Well, goodbye Yug'."

I had honestly never thought of that. My mouth was hanging open and a fly drifted in. It was gross.

In that case... I really wasn't doing anything good for anyone. Joey was right. I couldn't let Yami leave unexpectedly... But I couldn't just say that to him... And then I got an idea.

I would just avoid searching for the answers Yami sought, that was all. And that wouldn't be very hard...

In the meantime, Joey was coming home tomorrow! 


	4. International House of Fools

Part 2  
  
Anything is Possible  
  
"The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible." -Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey  
  
"YOU!!!" -VH4  
  
Cameo by: Ashlee, my friend  
  
Chapter 4: International House of Fools  
  
I have never seen Yami so unenthused in my life. He seemed to mumble everything he said, and he stabbed himself in the hand with a fork four times. That's not funny; it's my hand! And Tea was looking at him weird. That was kind of funny, though. And I decided to rename the place, the Internation House of Fools. Fitting, isn't it? Especially when Malik walked in and Yami leaped up, pointing and yelled, "YOU!!!" Our waitress started laughing her head off for no reason after that. Her name was Ashlee.  
  
So, Malik and Yami were arguing, Tea was sighing and rolling her eyes in this "not again" kind of way. She used her hands to hold up her head and watch the two battle it out. She looked really cute.  
  
It turned out Malik was there for a week because Ishizu had business with the museum again. This meant that madness was sure to ensue the following week. But it also reminded me that it would remind Yami that he needed a reminder about who he was. Confusing. The gist of it was, Yami would want to "search for himself" again, and call it his "destiny". And although Tea would be more than happy to help him, I didn't want to see her cry when Yami left.  
  
"Stupid Nameless Pharaoh!" Malik screamed, and then he turned around and left. Odion was waiting for him outside the door. Smart man. Babysitting Malik from afar must have been much easier on the ears. Heh. Malik was probably storming over to Bakura's house. This gave me an idea - maybe I could ask him what Bakura said about Miho. She had sounded so sad on the phone last night, I had decided to make her my pity friend until she was happy again. Like I said, I can't stand to see people cry. Unless they're crying out of happiness, but the only people I've ever known to do that were Joey and Tristan.  
  
Yami watched Malik go with this blank face. He was gaping. A fly flew into his mouth. He was remembering... about his destiny. Dang.  
  
This made my job just that much harder. I had to convince him not to pursue his destiny. But how in the world was I going to do that? I couldn't stand for anyone around me to be unhappy...  
  
Jees, I'm such a weakling. Ushio was right. But that wasn't going to stop me from having these inner battles. But I didn't have to figure things out now, did I? Eh... Well it would have to be soon...  
  
Malik stuck his tongue at us through the window as he walked away. Odion made him hold his hand. What a baby. He was not pleasant to be around... And neither was Miho. But I guess I could stomach her until she found another friend to leech off of. If I remember correctly, she was quite adept at that, particularly manipulating all of her crushers. Well, that wouldn't work for me, I didn't like her.  
  
Yami was still gaping, so I took control of the body. I turned to Tea, who had noticed the change and was looking at me with bored interest.  
  
"Yeah, Yugi?" she asked. "What is it?"  
  
"...Who was paying again?" We both sweat dropped simultaneously.  
  
"I dunno," Tea admitted boredly. "We... could... just run, but that wouldn't be very nice." Her eyes travelled over to our waitress, Ashlee, who was still laughing over Yami's outrageous outburst.  
  
"Yeah... we could." My eyes flickered back towards Tea's face. "And we probably should, because I have somewhere to go." At this Tea looked up in interest.  
  
"Somewhere to go?"  
  
"Yeah, I have to go and buy cat food for my cat," I lied. I didn't want Tea around when I asked Joey what to do about Miho. I felt Yami probing my mind in puzzlement.  
  
/Miho? What about her?/ he asked me.  
  
"Oh. Okay. Well, see ya Yugi." Tea stood up, stretched her legs, and then we both left with people staring at us, not only because I'd gotten a foot shorter but because Yami had caused the biggest fight in IHOP since... last week, when him and the darker side of Bakura had crossed paths there. Now there was something I didn't care to think about. 


	5. Pegasus Makes You Rich

Part 2  
  
Anything is Possible  
  
"The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible." -Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey  
  
Chapter 5: Pegasus Makes You Rich  
  
Tea and I went our seperate ways, and I started jogging, going right past the PetCo until I reached Hanasaki's duplex home that was on a busy street. Then I made a nintey-degree turn, waited until the light turned green, and crossed it to reach The Blinking Lights, a new arcade that Joey and I had decided to try when he came back.  
  
Upon entering through the glass double doors, I immediately noticed how everything was blinking and glaring and just plain startlingly bright. I squinted. Owch! Those lights were bright. I searched, squinting, for Joey. I found him playing DDR. His movements were jerky, and he got a really low score.  
  
"Awwwwwww, dang!" Joey lamented. Then he mumbled, "At least no one saw that..."  
  
I couldn't help it; I giggled. Joe heard me, and I watched his eyes trail across the sparse cliques of people to see me - I'm kind of hard to miss. It's the hair, you know? - and his eyes widened.  
  
"Yugi!!" He looked nervous. "Did you - did you see that?"  
  
I nodded happily. "Yep!" My best friend's face fell into a bitter, sinister-looking scowl, his blonde bands partially shading his face. I laughed again. "So what's up?" I inquired, jumping up onto the machine platform next to him. I really sucked at this game, but I guessed that I could spare a quarter or two in the name of friendship. A few seconds of searching through my pockets and I discovered the meaning of "flat broke". I looked sheepishly at Joey, who nodded to show that he understood. Then without warning, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a 200 dollar bill!  
  
"WHOA!" I cried. "Joey, where did you get that?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, a friend of mine recently came into some money because of Industrial Illusions, and they had some to spare."  
  
"Industrial Illusions? You mean, like, using the stock market to buy shares of Pegasus's company?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Wow."  
  
"Yep. Pegasus can make you rich, apparently."  
  
I thought that was neat. 


	6. Plumbers have something to do with it

Part 2

Anything is Possible

"The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible." -Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey

Chapter 6: Limber Plumbers

The effort of lifting a barrel the size of oneself was twisted into nothing as Mario achieved the feat graciously. Another barrel rained down on his head, crushing the one above him. The hero did a backflip to safety underneath a platform - and then realized that a barrel was rolling straight at him. He leaped over it more gracefully as a ballerina, and picked up the next one.

The small, pixellated hero exhaustedly jumped up the platforms one by one, knowing that he had to save the princess who was screaming her lungs out quite obnoxiously. Perhaps that was why his adversary looked so constipated.

Mario jumped up at Donkey Kong, throwing a barrel at him. With declining music, Donkey Kong collapsed into an odd, squiggling bubble.

And then I knew exactly where to attack myself. And it didn't even involve any barrels. 


	7. Just the Facts

Part 3 

Allocation

"Choice of attention - to pay attention to this and ignore that - is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases, a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences, whatever they may be." -W. H. Auden, A Certain World

Chapter 7: Just the Facts

_"Yugi, what are you doing?"_ I could hear the Pharaoh's voice inside my head. _"You told Joey you had to run home. What for?"_

"Putting the Egyptian God cards in my drawer. What's wrong with that?" I asked.

_"Is that all? But won't it be inconvenient for when we need to go to the museum and learn about my past? Plus, plenty of theives want to get their hands on these cards, Yugi. It could be very dangerous to just leave them carelessly lying around in your bedroom,"_ Yami lectured me sternly. I cocked an eyebrow at him, in this 'Oh, I KNOW you didn't mean what I just thought you meant' sort of way..

"Are you calling me careless?"

Yami blinked in surprise. _"Um... no... I don't think so..."_ Shifty eyes, heh.

"I can't carry these cards around with me anymore, okay Yami? Just trust me. Please?"

_"But Yugi..."_ The spirit hesitated, then nodded his head grimly. He trusted me... _"I don't think I've seen you look so determined in quite a while, partner,"_ he broached. I smiled and nodded as I mixed the god cards in with all of my baseball, basketball, and Magic: The Gathering cards.

"Do you want to leave so soon?" I decided to take that path. "What, do I smell now or something? ...Oh wait, you can't smell anything..."

Now he was the one giving me the 'Oh, I KNOW you didn't just say that' look. _"Stop making fun of me because I'm dead."_

"I'm not. I'm just stating the facts, sir, just the facts." I sounded like somebody from Dragnet, an old detective show where the own of the detectives would frequently ask for "the facts, sir, just the facts."

_"Oh... hey, has Tea called?"_

"No. Why, you love her or something?" I teased. Teasing is hard to do. Probably because when I tease somebody, I usually make the mistake of teasing them over something I deeply care about. Yami looked at my indignantly.

_"As a matter of fact..."_

The phone rang. I was forever grateful to that phone. It almost made it so I couldn't hear what Yami was saying. But how would Yami know what love is? He's been dead for thousands of years...

I could hear Grandpa answer the phone. And then I remembered that the shop was still open. It was in the middle of the afternoon. My window blinds in my room had been closed, that was probably why it felt like I was in a different time zone. I opened them, and then drew up the sash of my window. I took a deep breath.

"I have to go talk to Joey," I said. "So... let's go."

_"Don't forget your deck."_

"I'm not going to be dueling anybody."

_"But what if Bakura or Malik finds us and challenges us to a duel?"_

"Then we'll run back and grab our deck. They can't take the Millennium Puzzle unless they defeat us in a duel, right? That's what Malik believes, anyway... I don't think Bakura cares, actually."

_"The darker side of Bakura might break into the house, Yugi... what if he steals our deck?"_

"Alright, I'll bring it," I submit. No use trying to wean myself off of having my deck with me at all times all at once. "But the God cards stay here. Bakura doesn't really want those anyway."

_"Ok."_

----------------------------------

I really wasn't planning on continuing this story. But I felt like it, so I guess I will now. Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.


	8. Remorse

Part 3

Allocation

"Choice of attention - to pay attention to this and ignore that - is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases, a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences, whatever they may be." -W. H. Auden, A Certain World

Chapter 8: Remorse

"I'm sorry I just ran home like that, just to put the Egyptian God cards in my drawer. I know it was really stupid of me. It just felt really important at the time..."

Yami's probing my mind, asking me why. And I know I was sloppy. It was stupid of me to just decide to run home and put the God cards in a drawer, even though it seemed like such a good idea. All because I'd gotten an idea from Donkey Kong. I'm such an idiot. Yami would never make that mistake; then again, Yami would never be in the situation I'm in...

"Yug'!" I look up and see Joey running towards me, his sneakers smacking against the pavement. He grins. Apparently he's been looking for me.

"Joey! Sorry, I said I'd be right back, but Yami and I were..." Arguing. Were we arguing? I want to use that word, but it doesn't seem to fit into my puzzle. "...talking, and I just came out..."

"It's not problem. What did you need to go home for, anyway?" Joey asked casually. I shudder. "What's wrong?"

"It was stupid. I just... I felt like I shouldn't be carrying the God cards."

Joey cocks up an eyebrow. "You sensin' some sort of evil or somethin'?"

"No... Like I said, it was stupid. I just totally ran home on a whim to put three pieces of paper in a drawer. Well, I'm back now. Sorry." The sun is shining. For some reason, I feel like there should be a sunset, dominated by pink, in the sky, but it's only mid-afternoon.

"That's ok. I don't really get it, but whatever..." Joey grinned. "Let's go to BurgerWorld!"

Tea works there. "Ok," I agree. "And on the way, Joey... um... do you remember Miho?"

"Yeah, why?"

"She asked me out."

Joey gave me 'a look.' "She did?"

"Yeah."

"Doesn't she like Bakura?"

"Yeah."

"So why is she askin' YOU out?"

"I don't know."

"When did she ask you out?" Joey inquires. I wonder why this is important, then realize that it could be pretty useful information in trying (as I'm sure Joey was doing) to discover Miho's motives. After all, it was automatically evident that Miho wouldn't ask me to spend time with her without a reason. Everyone knew she'd been crushing on Bakura for some time now.

"Remember when we were talking on the phone, and I said somebody else was flashing in? That was her on the other line."

"Oh. Was that all she said, is that she wanted to go on a date with out?"

"She didn't say she wanted to go on a date with me. She said she wanted to see if we could go see X-Men 2 together. Now that I think about it, she probably just wants to talk more about Bakura."

"Don't sound so bitter, Yug'. I'm sure there's a girl somewhere that likes you." Joey gives me a cheeky grin. I shiver despite the warmth.

"I guess so. But Miho isn't exactly the type of girl I would want to be my girlfriend anyway," I say. "Especially if she's allocating me to be her eyes and ears on the subject of Bakura. I mean, we don't talk as often as she makes it seem... actually, I haven't hung out with him at all lately."

"Maybe you should," Joey suggests. I try to calculate what he's saying. How would hanging out with Ryou Bakura solve my problems? If anything happened involving his darker half, my darker half would want to pursue his destiny even more. That wouldn't help me...

I give up with a sort of melancholy sigh that I didn't mean to expel. "How would that help me?" I ask Joey.

Joey looks surprised. "Help you? I just meant Bakura probably wants to hang out with us more."

Oh... Of course. I'm friends with Bakura, aren't I? His lighter bit, that is. Although his lighter bit, still, can be very morbid sometimes, and it freaks me out. The card choices he's made in creating his deck are creepy, to say the least, and it's pretty obvious from the books he reads that he's heavily into horror.

"...Yeah... of course. So what should I say to Miho?"

"You should say 'yes.'"

"Why?"

"Don't you want to see what she has to say?" Joey looks at me worriedly. "Yug', are you feelin' like yourself today?"

"Not really, Joey," I admit with a small fey smile. I probably going to feel a bit off for awhile. After all, an attitude adjustment is in order to fend off Yami's interests in his past, isn't it? It is. But isn't as if I'm going to lose myself in it. But so what if I did? If it makes people happy... If it makes Tea happy, that's the most important part. 


	9. He

Eh... I felt like updating before TAKS. (TAKS, for those of you who don't live in my state, is the standardized, end-of-the-year tests. But not finals. No, we have finals on top of that. Gah. Good thing we can get exempt from them...) So, yeah. Updating in hopes of drawing new readers! pumps arms And new reviewers! flexes arm and pokes muscle Hm... I'm weird. So, enjoy this. Anyhoo, this chapter may not seem like much, but be forewarned: it becomes VERY important later on. Mucho important. ...That's why I don't take Spanish. So, yeah. I had a structure for this fic here, blew it up, now it's much longer and the main events won't be happening for a couple more chapters. But I'm hoping to reinsert some structure into it... so, yeah. Have fun reading this. And for my sake, review. Goodness knows I need something to cheer me up after this week and all of its exams.

Part 3

Allocation

"Choice of attention - to pay attention to this and ignore that - is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases, a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences, whatever they may be." -W. H. Auden, A Certain World

Chapter 9: He

We weren't going to Joey's house, but were heading in the direction of it. Our plan was to go past it, to see what hangouts we could find. We were just passing by Joey's apartment building, though, when we saw him exit it.

Bakura Bakura didn't live anywhere near here; it didn't make sense for him to be in Joey's apartment building. I found myself hoping that he wasn't stupid enough to have tried to go to Joey's apartment to see him. I've only been there once, with Tristan and Tea, to look for Joey. When Tristan opened the door Joey's father threw a beer bottle at it.

"'Ey Bakura," Joey says. "What are you doing here?"

Bakura's desolate face perks up. "J-Joey!" he says. "And Yugi."

"Thanks for acknowledging me," I joke. "I know I'm short, but--"

"How can you miss somebody with Yugi's kind of hair?" Joey finishes my joke for me. I laugh.

"Sorry," Bakura apologizes. "It's just I've been looking for Joey all afternoon, is all."

Without asking, Yami takes over. "Oh?" he asks. "Have you?"

"Y-Yes." Bakura apparently isn't comfortable around my darker side. I don't blame him. Yami's crossed his arms and has his weight on one hip and one eyebrow cocked. He looks kind of like an angry girl.

"Don't make me look like that."

"Not now, partner," he brushes me off aloud. Bakura and Joey can hear them, and they stare.

Not now? He's using my body. And he has the nerve to tell me not now? I love my other half, make no mistake about it... not like that, obviously, but still a brotherly love. But he can't just do that.

Using a mass amount of spiritual power, I thrust Yami out of control of the body. Once I'm in control again, I fling Yami far into the recesses of my mind and basically bar him there.

Bakura and Joey are still staring at me like I'm standing there talking to myself, like "I" was a few minutes ago. "Sorry," I apologize. "Bakura, if you need to talk to Joey, I'll leave. I have some things to do..."

"I thought you said you had nothing to do today, Yug'," Joey points out.

"I did say that, didn't I?" I laugh. "Sorry. I just thought of something I'm supposed to be doing right now. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Uh... sure." Joey looks doubtfully at me.

Bakura nods. "Alright, Yugi."

"'Kay. See ya."

I'm being kind of anti-social today. Oh well. It can't be helped, for now. 


	10. Yes

Woot! 4 reviews in 2 days. Pretty good for a fic I thought I was going to discontinue just a month or two ago. Now I have enough written out so that I could basically post a chapter every day until next week, but where would be the fun in that? Unless you review, of course. :P I got 3 reviews in one day! Woot! That sure cheered me up after the math exam. ) So... maybe you're wondering... is there are reason they're divided into parts made up of three chapters each? ...Nah, not really. After chapter 20 I think I'll just continue with one long part for awhile. At least that's what I'm planning. ...Yeah, I've got up to chapter 20. Uh... I think I'll update again after I get 5 reviews. :) 

Part 4

Searching for Peace

"One cannot subdue a man by holding back his hands. Lasting peace comes not from force." -David Borenstein

Chapter 10: Yes

"Miho?" I twirl the cord of the phone around my index finger. I really ought to stop doing that, but I can't help it. Is it a nervous habit? I guess I do feel nervous... of the fact that I'm calling a girl other than Tea, whom I'd much rather be calling, but I'm also nervous because I'm using a payphone. Why that makes me nervous... I guess it is because pay phones just give you a sense of urgency. Every second counts, it seems.

_"Why are you using a payphone? Just go home and call her from your regular phone."_

"I suppose I should do that... but I don't feel like it. Besides, I already--"

"Hello?"

"Miho? This is Yugi."

"Yeah, hi. What's up?"

"Nothing much" comes rolling off my tongue as a conditioned reflex. "I was calling to tell you that I can go to the movies tomorrow. I just need to ask my Grandpa."

_"That sounds lame,"_ Yami muses. I try to squelch the "shut up" that's rising in my throat.

"Ok... That's great. Actually, I don't even think I asked my mom whether or not I could go yet. I'm grounded," she explains. "In fact, could we move it to next Saturday? Or maybe Friday. I won't be grounded anymore on Tuesday, but I have club things to do on Wednesday and Thursday."

She's in clubs?

"Oh. Ok."

"Well, talk to you later then. And tell your other self I said hi!"

There's a click, and she hangs up. I had completely forgotten that she, too, knew of my other self. Of course she did! She'd met him when we were playing that Tabletop RPG game with the darker Bakura. That seemed so, so long ago.

For some reason, that makes me want to shy away from her. For a day. For a few weeks. For a lifetime. To just disappear from her life and never see her again.

Why does knowing that make me feel that way?

In another way, it makes me angry. I want to throw something. I slam the door to the phone booth shut.

"Watch it! You almost hit my hand!" I turn to apologize to the person whose hand I almost harmed in my stupid inner storm of whim and idiocy. Why am I upset?

I find myself looking into the surprised eyes of Duke Devlin. He blinks in surprise. "Yugi?" he says, as if he can hardly believe I'm there. I feel like a ghost.

I turn and run, too embarrassed to talk to him. Duke shouts after me, but I try not to hear what he's saying.


	11. Ghost

Part 4

Searching for Peace

"One cannot subdue a man by holding back his hands. Lasting peace comes not from force." -David Borenstein

Chapter 11: Ghost

Yami's shouting at me in my head. I can't fully block him out, my... what would you call them? "Spiritual powers?" They aren't very developed, so all I can do is turn his shouted inquires into hazy murmurs in the back of my mind. But when I do that... everything sounds like curse words. I hate it.

I can feel tears rolling down my cheeks. I hate them, too, every single drop. I hate them more than I hate whatever's making me hate whatever it is I hate so much. I hate it!

I can't stand it. Duke stared at me in total and complete shock back at the phone booth. I could see surprise written all over his face. It was disgusting, knowing he must think that I was off my rocker to just slam the door like that... like I'm too kind for that. I'm so kind, I'm a ghost. I'm wrong if I'm anything but. I can't ever be angry because nobody will like that, they'll say it's "not me," I can't be that way.

I'm Yugi. I'm a smiling ghost. If I'm not, I'm shocking.

Why can't I be like other people? They have dips in their emotions, don't they? It isn't only me. Joey gets angry. I've seen Tea depressed, Duke anxious, Yami worried... I'm not supposed to be any of those things.

...I'm being irrational. What's wrong with me? I'm usually not this... crazy. I'm not a ghost. Yami's a ghost.

I'm alive. 


	12. Worry

Part 4 

Searching for Peace

"One cannot subdue a man by holding back his hands. Lasting peace comes not from force." -David Borenstein

Chapter 12: Worry

Yami's very worried about me. That's exactly what he says as, stepping into the light pooling around the Kame Game Shop's back door, I let him back into my brain. His exact words. "Yugi, I'm very worried about you."

"I'm just having a bad day."

_"You seemed unusually upset."_

"I know. I said I was having a bad day."

_"But..."_

"But what?" I snap, annoyed. Yami seems to retreat the tiniest bit in my mind, like I threatened to hit him. A second later he's overflooding my senses again, trying to calm me down.

_"You seem so... angry."_

"Why do you want to make me bottle up my emotions? That's unhealthy for you," I complain, as I unlock the door and stroll into the house. It's pretty late. I kind of just twiddled my day away. At one point I walked all the way to Tea's house, turned around, and then walked all the way back to Joey's apartment. Pacing. At one point, I was debating going to Joey's apartment, opening the door, seeing Joey's dad.

I never thought of that before. Joey talks about his dad sometimes, sure, but I think it was only today, when I didn't really have anyone to hang out with and didn't feel like seeking anyone out, that I realized there was a living, breathing human being that stayed in Joey's apartment all day in hermitage. I don't know why I thought of seeing Joey's dad. I've never properly met him--just the bottle thrown at the door and the angry greeting demanding where Joey had been for the past 3 days.

_"You're having weird thoughts today."_

"Yeah..." I sniff. "I feel weird today."

_"What did you eat?"_

"Are moods dictated by what you eat?"

_"Maybe you're sick."_

I freeze, mulling this over. I gain a grin out of my chagrin.

"That's kind of amusing, Yami. I'm upset. That doesn't mean I have an upset stomach. Sure, I'm not quite sure while I'm having difficulty... focusing, today, but that doesn't mean that I'm getting mad cow disease."

_"I'm just trying to make sure you're okay, partner. That's all that I'm doing."_

"I wish you wouldn't," I sigh. I blink. He blinks, sort of.

_"Why did you say that?"_

"I'm not sure," I admit. It's good to know that Yami's worried about me. "It's been a long day."

_"Has it?"_ Yami asked, surprised. I know he has no time sense, not when he's in the recesses of my mind, or when he's in the abyss of the Millennium Puzzle.

"Yeah," I tell him. "I probably just need some sleep."

_"Does sleep always cure things?"_

"Sometimes it helps," I explain wearily.

_"You think it'll help you now?"_

Too many questions. My brain is buzzing. Maybe I am ill. I feel kind of dizzy. I don't understand why this is happening. I planned everything out today. I should be stronger today than ever before.

I decide to answer. "I..."

I make the mistake of hesitating to gather my words. And right after I do, a thought occurs to me that makes me fill so ill I throw up all over my shoelaces.

"YUGI!" Yami's alarmed voice is booming thunder in the valley of my brain.

"Quieter... please..." I choke out. Already I can't remember what the thought I had was, but I knew I didn't want to have it again. And suddenly the thought of sleeping makes me want to puke again.

"Yugi?" comes a voice, kind but worried.

"Mom."

She flips on the light. "You're back kind of late. Did you have fun with Joey?" She smiles. Then her eyes widen as she realizes I have some pink stuff dribbling down my chin. Why can't my barf be a more manly color?

_"For that you'd have to be more of a man,"_ he teases, and suddenly I feel cross inside. I can't show it, though; my mom thinks I'm weird enough, what with the talking to myself. That's probably how she found me; she probably heard me talking to Yami. She thinks I'm kind of nuts, but as long as I have Grandpa to back me up (something about me being a lot like him when he was my age; he must've been really psycho) then she'll act like she doesn't care that I'm talking to the air. But secretly I know that she wants to cart me off to a psychiatrist, and so I guess I haven't been talking to her as much as I have lately.

"Yugi! What happened? Are you all right? Did you get beat up?" She's already by my side, feeling my forehead. I wipe off my chin with the back of my hand and breathe in and out deeply through my nose.

"I didn't get beat up," I insist. Then I lie: "I'm fine."

"No you're not. You just threw up all over the floor. And you were talking to yourself again; I heard you." I frown. I can hear Yami laughing teasingly. It tickles my ears in the way that makes me want to rub them until they sting less, or until they're as raw as flesh left out in the snow.

"I guess I'm a little sick," I mumble.

"You sure are. What did you eat today?"

Yami cheers mentally. I groan, wishing for once he'd shut up so my brain could function... function how? Normally? Eh? My head hurts so badly...

"I don't remember eating much. I think I had a hot dog."

"You think?"

"I might've just daydreamed it."

"Yugi, how deep do you have to daydream before you can't remember whether it was real or not?"

Her upper lip twitches in deep concern. Yami, also, is attentive. I lick my lips, suddenly realizing that they are chapped. "I'm having an off day," is all I can say.

_I like this chapter. :) What did you think of it?_


	13. See through

Part 5 

Battle Plan

"Both tears and sweat are salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy; sweat will get you change." Jesse Louis Jackson

Chapter 13: See-through

The good thing about being sick is that my mother allowed me to sleep in late, dismissing aubades in the name of peace, quiet, rest and relief.

The extra rest does wonders to succor my troubled stomach, as well as my troubled mind. When I woke up, warm sunshine splashing my cheeks, I immediately felt embarrassed for everything I had done yesterday: how I had moped all day, then run away from a friend, cried, and then threw up. I didn't want to contemplate the reason that that chain of events had occured. For me, what I had said the night before, that everyone has their off days, was good enough.

Now, however, Yami's trying to talk to me. I have to find a way to tell him to shut up without hurting his feelings, or he will feel oh-so-royally-rejected. Not that he gets all upset about it, actually; I'm just that polite, I suppose.

"Yami, my head hurts," I whine, shielding the sun from my eyes with my hand as it filters through my open blinds and tumbles directly onto my cornea. Yami's taken a spirit form, and is hovering right over the window.

_"I was just asking if you feel any better,"_ he concedes, hurt. I groan but try to give him a small smile.

"Yami, my head's hurting when you talk right now. No offense or anything."

He holds up his gossamer hands. _"Oh, none taken! I'll disappear if you want."_

"Just for a little while. I do want company," I tell him, pining for the hour my stomach stops flip-flopping like a gasping fish. He smiles as he catches mental snatches of my fish simile.

_"Creative,"_ he tells me. I say thanks. _"I'll see you in a bit."_ I say okay. I already know that I'll see him in a little bit. Yami's very easy to read; not during a duel, of course, when 'enigmatic' is an adjective one strives to have ascribed to them, and Yami is more difficult to read than a book in Old English. (And considering we're in Japan...) But he's actually an open picture book normally. One can easily comprehend (or at least I can, and my friends seem to be able to just as well) when he is worried, inspired, happy, or total desolate. I've never really seen Yami when he was desolate, but Tea tells me that he was when he lost my soul that one time. I remember when I reconnected with him how I could instantly tell that he was worlds happier than... something. Being without me, I guess.

When he says he's not offended, he means he's not offended. If he tells me he's worried about me, I know that he thinks I'm pushing myself too far. Yami the spirit is so much easier to read than an actual living person. He's a see-through friend.

Which is why I know I'll get immediately results once I get my battle plan sorted out and into action.


	14. Aback

Part 5

Battle Plan

"Both tears and sweat are salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy; sweat will get you change." Jesse Louis Jackson

Chapter 14: Aback

"Hey Yami, maybe you made me sick."

"What?"

Yami thinks that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever said.

"Yugi, why would you say that?"

I smile and put my hands underneath the pillow my head is sunken into. "Maybe you secretly don't want to go and look for your destiny. Maybe you'd rather stay here with me." I sit up and add, "For now, anyway. Am I right?"

I've got him now. How can he deny what I've just said without seriously hurting my feelings? I know he really wants to look for his destiny, but at the same time he doesn't want to leave me. I'm his best friend, and his link to the living world. How's he going to refuse to confirm what I just said?

"...I didn't make you sick," he says sulkily. "But I would rather stay with you, Yugi, believe me." He tries to give me an imploring look, with large, violet eyes aimed at me.

I lean back against my pillow, grinning. "I know. After all, you have to see Tea, don't you?"

Yami blinks. He doesn't hesitate before saying, "Tea's not as important as being your friend."

I blink. "What?" I say, deadpan. My chest physically hurts, as if I've just been poked hard enough to leave a bruise.

"My relationship with Tea isn't as important as my friendship with you." He said it again. The sentence makes my ears ring a bit.

I laugh nervously. "Well of course not! If we were fighting you wouldn't be able to take over me, so you have to maintain--"

"No, I meant--Yugi, what are you thinking? We couldn't fight. You're my best friend. Tea's a good friend, but you're my soul partner."

I stare at my knees. So I'm more important than Tea? Why does that seem so messed up to me? I guess it could be taken as normal... My head hurts. It's because I'm sick. That must be it.

"Tea's your girlfriend. She should be more important," I say bitterly. Yami seems tacken aback. 


	15. Time to Shift Gears

Part 5 

Battle Plan

"Both tears and sweat are salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy; sweat will get you change." Jesse Louis Jackson

Chapter 15: Time to Shift Gears

It's strange. I feel like I was narrating my life, and now I've reached the point where I can't use the past tense anymore and I have to use the present. Actually, I've been feeling like that ever since I apologized to Yami for running home just to return the Egyptian God cards. Suddenly, I feel like the clock is ticking away, and I'm supposed to be doing... something. Chipping away at some goal. But what? 

...Of course. Yami's in spirit form trying to entertain me by retelling this amusing story of Joey, Kaiba, Mokuba, a rubber duck and some gastric acid. Even though I was there, at least in a spirit form. Yami and Kaiba's duel had ended, and this one had gone faster than usual, which made Kaiba extremely angry. And Mokuba... Mokuba had a rubber duck, which he cautiously profferred to his mad older brother. Kaiba squeezed it, I guess as some sort of tension relieving thing... and, of course, it quacked. So Joey cracked up, and Kaiba tried to crack Joey's head up by tossing the rubber duck at him forcefully. Or rather, Joey's stomach. I guess Kaiba wanted to have the wind knocked out of Joey so that he would fall over, gasping for breath; this is what Joey did: he DID, in fact, fall over, breathless, but he also threw up. All over the rubber duck. And Yami tells this story with such vim and vigor written over his ectoplasmic visage that it's hard not to giggle along.

But now I remember why I feel compelled to be working away at something: I'm sick, and Yami quite possibly means for me to get well so that we can go to the museum as quickly as we can (and, of course, because he is always sincerely concerned about my welfare). That means if I get well, Yami will want to go and search for his ancient past... his ancient past... and that's bad. Bad, seeing as seeing Yami go would make Tea unhappy. My brain feels full. Owch.

"Yami, no offense... I mean that story's really funny and all," I say, smiling really big to show that I mean it, "but I kind of have a headache."

Yami simmers down quite a bit. "Oh, I'm sorry partner. I didn't realize."

"It's alright--ow."

"Partner?"

My throat feels scratchy. If I talk to Yami long it will only get worse. Come to think of it, a sore throat, once you catch it, is really the only... is it a disease? Whatever... it's the only malignment--is that the right word? Maybe not--that you can continuously keep, if you want. You just keep talking.

...I suddenly feel determined to be very talkative.


	16. Talkativity

Part 6 

Illness as an Ally

"WARNING: Humor may be hazardous to your illness." -Ellie Katz

First off, thanks for 50 reviews. fan was the 50th reviewer. Second, tomorrow I'm going to camp for three weeks. I may update once while I'm there, and if you're lucky (and you review a lot!) twice. So enjoy this. It'll be the last chapter for a week or so. Thanks to my three main reviewers here--you know who you are. :P And thanks to everyone else who reviewed! I love reviews. o.o Even if they're flames! Pleeeeease review my fic, won't you?

Chapter 16: Talkativity

* * *

"Do you remember that time," I say, and then pause, trying to think of a time. 

"Which time?" he inquires quickly. I send a mental tidbit of irritation his way at being so swiftly interrupted, and he sends his apologies. All mentally, of course. It's kind of like having your brain hugged, I muse. Sort of. How would I really know what that would literally feel like? I couldn't. That would be an odd situation... then again, I'm sort of known for getting myself into those, with Yami's help. They're kind of fun, really.

Yami sends me another tiny mental inquiry, packaged with an apology. "You haven't told me what it was you want to see if I remember," he informs me in a worried tone, or what would be a worried tone if he was talking.

"Oh!" I jitter nervously. "I... well, I just wanted to know if you remembered the time... when... remember when Joey dueled with Duke, and lost? And Duke made him wear that ridiculous dog suit," I say scornfully. "That was the dirtiest, most low down thing Duke ever did."

"Yes, I agree," Yami... agrees. "But what about it? Was there something you wanted to ask me?"

"No... I just wanted to know if you remembered. Do you remember that time Joey and I followed Tea after school and caught her working at Burger World?" I smile, happy that Tea had come into my conversation. "She sprayed ketchup at us and it was on both our faces... Joey's and mine, I mean... and, it's the darnedest thing..." I sit up a bit, bringing my knees up to my chin. "Joey just seemed to wipe his hand over his face ONCE and all of the ketchup was gone. Or, at least, most of it." I simulate the movement. "Magic wave. That just freaked me out for the rest of the day. He has..." I giggle, something that I'm not really prone to do very often, because everybody at school thinks I'm babyish; I don't need the "girly" label added on. Man, my "image," as Joey would call it, sucks.

"He has magical ketchup removing powers!" I chirp. Yami gives me an odd look, telling me that he agrees it was funny but that he also wondered what I was getting at. The truth was, I wasn't getting at anything. Just then, my mom came into the room.

"Er... Yugi." She looks at me abashedly. Uh-oh. "Were you just... um... saying something?"

I give my mom a loving smile before returning my gaze to the comforting stitching on the blanket. "Who, me?"

Yes, Mom, I was talking to YAMI. Believe, darn it! ...That sounds too much like a children's Christmas movie. Maybe one with Tim Allen; I watched one with Duke once. I didn't think he was all that good of an actor, actually... and since the movie was in English I really had no clue what was being said, so I couldn't tell what the story was about.

"Yugi?" I tilt my head up to try to look at my mother with "smiling eyes." My dad, when he wasn't off on a business trip once, explained the importance of always smiling at my mother. It made her happy, it made her not worry... unless you smiled too much, which, he warned me, would make her think she was insane. Women are fickle, he said. My mom's just very... concerned about me.

So much for being talkative. My mind is racing but not enough words are being said.

"Would you like to sit and talk with me?" I offer, and she looks at me with a relieved look.

"Oh," she says. "You're only lonely."

That's impossible with Yami around. I glance toward him. He's standing awkwardly near an old clock we have. My mother follows my line of vision and gives the clock an odd look.

"Do you like that clock?" she asks me, her voice thick with curiosity.

"It's interesting," I say. It's made of wood, it squats low. I forget what type of clock it's called, but it's low, and has three arches; two small ones on the sides, and one larger one where the clock's face is. The face itself is pretty yellowed, and the thick, velvet arrows droop a bit so that the time is now around ten minutes fast. It's solid wood and about five inches from the front and the back.

"Yugi, are you feeling alright?"

I give my mom a weird look. "Yeah, aside from my illness, why?"

She pats her short, curly hair. "Because," she says with a bit of nervousness in her voice, "you just described that clock out loud."

"I'm sorry." I smile again. Apologetically this time. I chuckle.

My mom grins at me. "Why...?"

"I'm reminded of this other English movie I watched with... Duke, I think, once, when he was babysitting some kids and he wanted to duel me in the background while these kids watched a movie. It was in English, which these kids understood itperfectly well. Kids these days are too darn smart." My mom smiles. "They were watching it and there was this one part that Duke translated for me because the kids were laughing so hard... There was this chieftan guy, and he was telling these people that they thought were Gods to give them a 'big smile. Like you mean it.' "

My mom's grin wanes. "So why are you reminded of that now?"

"We both seem to be doing a lot of smiling, that's all."

My mom sits down next to me. "Yugi, were you talking to yourself before I came into the room?"

I hate lying to my mom. "No." But I'm not lying. I was talking to somebody, she wouldn't understand...

"Wouldn't understand what?" She places her hand on my shoulder and squeezes it. "Yugi?"

"Was I still talking out loud?" I asked, surprised. Yami gives me a sort of incredulous look and then simulates smacking his forehead. I laugh nervously. "Soooo," I say. "Mom."

"Soooo," she says back. "Son."

There's an awkward silence.

"You just narrated that."

"Did I?"

"Yes."

"Ah." I turn away, blushing.

"There's another awkward silence." This time it's my mother that's narrating, thinking she's caught on to my game. "Yuuuugi," she says, trying to mimic those ghostly noises you only hear ghosts make on weird, childish animes. But I can't help but smile.

"What?" I keep my chin elevated with my fist.

"You neeed to gooo to sleeeeep," she says in a ghostly groan. I roll my eyes and laugh. "Okay, mom."

She smiles and stands up. Blowing me a kiss (and earning another good-natured eye roll,) she walks to the door, where she turns around, casts me another worried look, (after all, she did catch me talking to my other self again,) and then leaves, shutting it behind me.

"Go to sleep!" she shouts six seconds later from down the hall.

"Okay!" I shout back, straining my scratchy throat. I close my mouth a bit too quickly, knocking my teeth against each other in an unpleasant way. Yami is regarding me warily. "What?" I tease. "Is my mom too mushy for you?"

I rolls his eyes, and says something. I blink incessantly until I realize that he's mouthing words, and that he doesn't want me to hear them. I narrow my eyes. "What are you saying?" I demand. He gives me a fey smile before retreating into the Millennium Puzzle, sending out a resounding "Sleep Tight."

"Hey! Get back out here and tell me--"

"Yugi?" my mom calls sweetly from the other side of the door. I freeze.

"Y-Yes mom?"

"Who are you talking to?"

"Did you know that carrots won't grow so well in shade!" I jabber.

"...Good night, Yugi."

"It's 4 in the afternoon."

"I SAID, good NIGHT, YUGI."

"...Good night Mom." I get myself comfortable and lay my head against the pillow. But I don't feel like sleeping; well, I do, but I know I shouldn't. Rest would help me get better more quickly, and if I want to milk this sore throat...

"Yami, come out, I want to talk to you."

"You're scaring me Yugi!" my mom teases from down the hall. Wow, she has good hearing.

"Goodnight, mom." Oh, well. Maybe later, then. After all, my illness is for Tea.


	17. Eternal Sleep

Part 6 

Illness as an Ally

"WARNING: Humor may be hazardous to your illness." -Ellie Katz

:) Camp is fun. One more week to go! Hope you like this chapter...

Chapter 17: Eternal Sleep

I'm afraid of sleep sometimes. I'm afraid that when I go under, I'll never come back up. Plus, the whole "being unconscious" thing really bothers me. It feels like time sucked out of my life. That's why I hate sleeping in. That's why I hate it when other people sleep in. Don't they know they're wasting their lives? That they could be DOING something? ACCOMPLISHING something?

That's why I am glad when I wake up only half an hour after I have fallen asleep. Yami immediately comes out of the Puzzle and gives me a coy look.

"What?" I ask, rubbing my eyes. Then, remembering my mom's watchful hearing, (did that make sense?) I say it again, this time in a whisper.

Yami smirks at me. "Did you have an interesting dream?"

"I dreamt something about Vasoline, a pair of glasses, that girl from Furuba and an orange slip of paper. What I supposed to get something out of that?" I turn over onto my stomach, place my hands next to my body at navel height, and slowly push myself up, so that all of the cricks get out of my back. It's just a habit I've picked up, although it feels good to wake up and not stretch and feel like you've got some untapped energy within you just because you haven't exercised.

Yami just shook his head. "No, I just wanted to see if it would work."

"If what would work?" I say in a normal speaking tone, before remember my mother and admonishing myself for not whispering.

"I mouthed to you what I wanted you to dream about, and it came true," he said proudly. I shiver. "Yugi? If you're cold, the blanket..."

"You WHAT?" I manage to whisper in disbelief. "Why would you mess with my dreams like that?"

"I--"

"No offense, but when I'm asleep, it's the only time I really rid of you--not that I WANT to be, mind you," I correct myself, giving him an apologetic glance. It's too late; he already looks really hurt. "It's just that... I'd rather if I had my own dreams."

He nods sadly at me. "I understand, partner. I'm sorry." He looks really remorseful... and hurt. Darn it, what have I done?

"It's ok..." I smile weakly.

"Ssh, your mom is still around."

But it's not okay. Sometimes my dreams seem too real, and if Yami were to make them that way... then how would I know when I was awake? Yami could lock me in my soul room forever, where I'd rest among the many children's toys I have in there, (Yami says they symbolize innocence, but also that he's still looking because he just knows there has to be a blue movie in there SOMEWHERE,) and he could make it so that I would never know I was asleep.

Yami looks at me, horrified, and I realize I've been "thinking" too loud in addition to my talking.

I open my mouth. My jaw feels unscrewed. "I--"

"Yugi, I would never--"

"I know," I say smoothly. "It was just a thought. Just a crazy tangent thrown in. Can you use tangent like that?"

"Yugi, I would never, EVER--"

"I said I know!" I squeal. "It was just a crazy thought, Yami. I know that you would never, ever do that."

And he never would. Never, ever. But that doesn't mean I don't semi-fear sleep. I should be up and about, accomplishing things that keep Yami from his destiny.


	18. Does It Bother You?

Part 6

Illness as an Ally

"WARNING: Humor may be hazardous to your illness." -Ellie Katz 

Chapter 18: Does It Bother You?

After staring at the ceiling fan for about five minutes, I kick back my covers and turn over on my side. After our discussion of dreams, I've been hoping that an easily-broached conversational topic would reveal itself to me in the dimples between the layers of paint, but nothing has leapt out, salient at my supine form. So I scrunch up my eyes. (I'm facing the wall so Yami, who is still drifting around the room, will not see my weird little struggle written on my face.)

This is hard. What am I supposed to say? I, a newfound dilettante of superfluous verbal communication, can not come up with something provocative to say.

...Ok, so 'provocative' isn't the best word. How does Tea--

"Do Tea's friendship speeches bother you?" I wonder aloud. Tea is always a great topic of conversation. Easy, too, to talk about, and so close to my heart that the breaths I expel talking about her are almost palpable.

Yami looks at me, immense surprise etched on his face. Like, seriously, I really caught him off guard. He looks like I just asked him if he was going to a disco-themed prom.

"Of course not! It's not as if she gives them that often. Why, do they bother YOU?"

"Of course not," I scoff.

"Then why did you ask?"

"Just making conversation."

Yami seems to shuffle uncomfortably, but I don't know if it's really possible to scuff your toe against the floor when you're hanging a foot in the air.

"I thought you didn't want to talk."

I did tell him that, didn't I?

"Well, I changed me mind," I explain in my best Irish accent, sitting up and smiling. He gives me a dark, fretful look.

"Yugi, you still look kind of flushed. You should probably get some rest..."

Oh, alright... He thinks I'm weird. So, abort that mission. S'Alright. Baby steps, after all, baby steps. Besides, I have an exam tomorrow...

NOW I really don't want to go to school. 


	19. Frown

Part 7

Struggle

"Without a struggle, there can be no progress. "  
-Frederick Douglass

Chapter 19: Frown

It's alright that I didn't get worse. After all, school also prevents me from going to the museum... Although there was that one time, soon after Battle City, that Yami took over my body and suggested that I skip math class to go to it. So I should be on my guard, I suppose, but I feel so relaxed to be in a rigid school setting again.

Tea goes to school, after all. It would be a shame not to get to see her. When she walked into the classroom, Yami alerted me as if he had something to say to her, which he didn't. It's like he just wanted to nudge me and point out her arrival.

"And then he just ran?" Bakura's voice has the effect of someone pouring ice down my back. I visibly shudder badly.

"Are you okay?" Tea asks as she stands near my desk.

"Yeah," I say, as the same time as Duke.

"He just ran," Duke confirms. I slink down in my seat.

"Yugi?" Tea blinks at me. "Are you... sure you're ok?"

"I'm... I'll be fine." I smile at Tea. "I was feeling sick yesterday... my mom made me rest all day. I couldn't leave the guest room."

Tea gives me an amused look. "Why the guest room?"

"Mom was afraid that if I stayed in my room, I'd just play games all day," I explain, smiling, knowing that it was true. The laughter that comes from her, gracing me, says that she knows it's true as well.

"Yeah, I thought about stopping by when you didn't come to school yesterday," Tea explained.

Why couldn't Duke and Bakura have gossiped about my yesterday, when I wasn't here?

Duke and Bakura's voices are buzzing... buzzing... buzzing in my head. Bakura's still asking Duke about when I ran away two days ago. (It feels like just minutes ago. I'm sure my face is burning with embarrassment, that's probably why Tea's looking at me weird.) It would've been just a bit after I left Bakura and Joey to talk about... huh... I wonder what they were talking about?

"Maybe Bakura was confessing his undying love for Joey," Yami teases. Now I really feel sick.

"That's /disgusting/" I hiss. Tea looks at me oddly.

"Huh?"

"Oh, uh, nothing Tea..." I scrunch up my face, trying to think of something to drive attention away from myself. "So... um... do you want to talk to Yami before class starts?"

Tea shakes her head. "Nah, that's okay. I'll just wait until Lunch." Yami's been eating Lunch with my friends everyday. Well, our friends everyday. Aren't they? Of course they are. Just now, Joey enters the room.

"Hi Joey!" I chirrup. Tea turns and greets Joey as well as she makes her way back to her... seat...

"You might want to stop staring at her butt, Yugi," Tristan admonishes me as he takes his seat by mine.

"What? I wasn't!" I protest. Tristan rolls his eyes. "I swear!"

"Whatever..."

"Hey guys." Joey comes over and plops down in the seat next to mine, even though that isn't his seat. He sits near the front of the classroom (an obvious attempt to make him buckle down and stay out of trouble) next to Bakura. He grins at Tristan, grins at me, then tosses a glance back over toward where Bakura is standing, in the back of the room next to Duke, still talking about me, but in a hushed tone. Bakura looks at me. Or maybe he's looking at Joey, but they're not talking about Joey, are they? Joey grins. Bakura turns to Duke and whispers something... and Duke looks surprised. Joey's grin fades.

"So, Joey, what did you guys do this weekend?" Tristan asks. The question is directed towards both Joey and me. Tristan doesn't know that I ditched Joey so that he could take to Bakura. "Joey?"

Joey stands up and goes to his seat as the teacher comes into the room, frowning at Bakura. Tristan gives me an odd look.

"What was that about?"

"I shrug. I don't know."

"...What?"

"Huh?"

Tristan explicates: "You just said 'I shrug.' "

I blush, embarrassed. I guess I'm not fully recovered yet. 


End file.
